Juanita Jean's | And In Lesser News Today, Republicans Win One: You Have a Constitutional Right To Lie

Lying is a human failing. But should it be illegal, no matter what the liar is lying about? If it was, we'd soon be sending even more of our citizens to jail then we already are. I'm not so sure of the First Amendment justification for this though. Did our fore fathers really mean this amendment to give blanket protection to public obscenity, to pornography, to hate-speech? Or was it meant strictly to protect political speech, to give the citizens the right to address their grievances with the government? We have stretched it's meaning so thin, it has no real substance anymore, no legitimacy.
But, to get back to lying. What is really needed is for parents and schools to teach children logic and critical thinking. To learn not to take everything someone says at face value, but to look for evidence and substantiation. Of course, if we did that, then politicians and religious extremists would have a much harder time attracting and holding their supporters, wouldn't then.